Conley v. Rapelje

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING THE PETITION FOR A
WRITOF HABEAS CORPUS [1] WITH PREJUDICE,
DENYING A CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY, AND DENYING LEAVE TO
PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS ON APPEAL

JUDITH
E. LEVY, United States District Judge

Petitioner
Antoine Conley filed this pro se petition for a writ
of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254,
challenging his convictions of unlawful imprisonment,
felonious assault, domestic violence (third offense), felon
in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm
during a felony. For the reasons set forth below, the
petition is denied.

This 2011 prosecution stems from events occurring on or about
2011 New Year's Day. Early in the morning of January 1,
2011, the victim, defendant's girlfriend, was spotted on
the side of road by a passing motorist. She told the motorist
that defendant had beaten her, and she asked to be taken to
her mother's home. The victim's mother testified that
her daughter said defendant beat her with a gun, tore off her
clothes, and forced her into a closet at her residence. The
police were called and arrived thereafter. A police officer
testified that the victim told him how defendant had beaten
her with his fists and a gun, how he had torn off her
clothing, and how he had forced her into a closet and would
not allow her to leave. At the hospital, the same officer
asked her to write out her prior statement, which she did.
The emergency room physician who attended to the victim
testified that her injuries were consistent with blunt-force
trauma. Defendant was subsequently apprehended as he slept at
the victim's residence. A loaded semiautomatic pistol was
found under his bed. Bullets were found in a crawlspace, and
one was found in a child's car seat.

At trial, the victim testified to a lack of memory of the
events of New Year's. She believed she had been
intoxicated at the time. She recognized her handwritten
police statement but testified to a lack of memory with
respect to writing it. She did remember, however, that a
police officer told her that he would not leave the hospital
until she wrote out a statement. She denied that the officer
told her what to write. . . .

Testimony introduced at trial indicated that defendant
assaulted the victim sometime between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. and
that until she fled, she was in a closet and threatened with
further violence if she left the closet. Defendant had also
been brandishing a loaded gun. Around 7 a.m., a motorist saw
the victim on the side of the road trying to flag someone
down. He described her as disheveled, disoriented, and
“[s]omewhat hysterical.” He then drove her to the
home of her mother, who described her daughter as crying and
half-dressed, with her “hair falling out” and her
eyes swollen nearly shut. The victim's mother believed
that the victim was panicked and scared, not knowing what to
do. Subsequently, the victim was interviewed by a police
officer, who described her as shaking and crying with marks,
bruises, and cuts on her. There was no evidence that the
victim engaged in ordinary activities, consulted others, or
contemplated her story between the assault and her
disclosures.

Petitioner
was convicted by a jury in St. Clair County Circuit Court of
unlawful imprisonment, Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.349b,
felonious assault, Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.82, assault
and battery of an individual with whom he has or has had a
dating relationship, third offense, Mich. Comp. Laws §
750.81(4), felon in possession of a firearm, Mich. Comp. Laws
§ 750.224f, and possession of a firearm during the
commission of a felony (“felony firearm”). Mich.
Comp. Laws § 750.227b. (See Dkt. 8-6.) On May
9, 2011, he was sentenced, as enhanced by habitual offender,
fourth, to concurrent prison terms of fifteen to twenty-five
years for unlawful imprisonment, three to fifteen years for
felonious assault imprisonment, three to fifteen years for
domestic violence imprisonment, and six to ten years for
felon in possession of a firearm imprisonment. (Dkt. 8-7 at
8-9.) He was also sentenced to two years for felony firearm,
to run consecutive to the unlawful imprisonment, felonious
assault, and felon in possession sentences. (Id. at
9.)

Petitioner
filed an appeal of right in the Michigan Court of Appeals,
arguing that: the victim's hearsay statements were
improperly admitted; there was insufficient evidence to
support a conviction of unlawful imprisonment; there were
evidentiary errors; the prosecutor committed misconduct; the
trial court erred in denying motion to suppress; and the
victim's written statement was improperly admitted. (Dkt.
8-8 at 8-31.) The Michigan Court of Appeals denied
Petitioner's claims and affirmed his convictions and
sentences. Conley, 2012 Mich.App. LEXIS 2053, at
*18.

Petitioner
filed an application for leave to appeal in the Michigan
Supreme Court, raising the same claims that he raised in the
Michigan Court of Appeals. (Dkt. 8-9 at 2-19.) The Michigan
Supreme Court summarily denied leave to appeal. People v.
Conley, 494 Mich. 852 (2013).

Petitioner
then filed the pending habeas petition, raising two claims he
previously raised in the state courts: the prosecutor
committed misconduct during her closing argument; and there
was insufficient evidence to convict for unlawful
imprisonment. (See Dkt. 1.)

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;II.
...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.